Month: February 2016

Did Apollo traverse planning and surface operations facilitate accurate geologic interpretations of the lunar surface? Researchers tried to determine the validity of the Apollo-style approach to surface exploration from a geology perspective. As we cannot revisit the sites explored by Apollo astronauts to address this question, they instead turned to an analog test (Desert-RATS) in the Arizona desert that was planned and executed in an approach similar to the last three Apollo “J” missions. The first, already-published ‘orbital’ map was used to plan the Desert-RATS traverses, then the other two maps were generated independently from one another, in two teams, to compare the geology interpreted from the Apollo-style traverses (Lab Team) to that interpreted from traditional field mapping (Field Team). They found that the Apollo approach was very effective for characterizing local geology, and that future surface exploration missions should maximize astronaut access to the field site to facilitate accurate interpretations of local geology.
The results also confirmed that investigating local geology with “boots on the ground” and “noses to the outcrops” substantially increases our understanding of local geology.
All three resulting maps showed generally the same geology, but those produced from field work data showed more discoveries that were below the map scale and not visible from overhead images. The best understanding of site geology came from integrating pre-mission data, post-mission lab data and field observations into a single product.
The analysis also showed that there is an optimal field work duration after which gaining new knowledge slows down considerably.
The results of the experiment were presented at the 2015 AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco, CA.

The Digital Museum of Planetary Mapping has opened today. The museum serves as both virtual exhibition halls and a database for researchers of planetary cartography. The museum currently has 222 drawings, maps and globes from the 17th century to 2015 and includes planetary maps in Latin, English, Chinese, Japanese, Russian and many other languages. It also includes full resolution digital copies of the lunar maps produced in the Soviet Union during the 1960-1980s.